SARASOTA - An Orlando wrestler made his mark on the Suncoast last summer when he headlined a Sarasota wrestling event after defeating cancer. Unfortunately, one year later, it returned for round 2.

Outside the ring, friends and family called Miraculous Rex Bacchus as, "...a super great guy...he was my hero," said Joe Abel, Founder of Fighting For A Cure. Bacchus was fighting a bigger beast when he wasn't wrestling, Stage 2 Intestinal Cancer.

"A lot of people, when they get cancer, they just sit back...they either get bitter or they just keep quiet...Rex never cried...never whined about it," Abel said.

Rex made his comeback cancer-free last July and headlined Fighting For A Cure 5, a local wrestling event at the White Buffalo Saloon raising money for the American Cancer Society.

At last summer's event, Rex said, "It literally gave me a hunger for life and a hunger to continue to experience this amazing part of this world that I didn't even know existed." Rex's opponent for the Florida Pro Wrestling Championship title was Jeremy Bazell or 'Deakon Starr'.

Bazell said, "Working with Rex...it was effortless. You could just tell in the air that there was something special about that day and it didn't matter that day if one person showed up or 100 people showed up. We were going out there with one goal and that's to tear the house down."

Rex came out of the match victorious. But months later, cancer wanted a rematch. Abel said, "Unfortunately in January of this year, the cancer came back and ended up getting the best of Rex." Abel said Fighting For a Cure will never be the same without Rex. But the motivation to keep fighting for a cure is stronger than ever.

The Florida Pro Wrestling belt Rex won last year will be retired for a new belt, the "Rex Bacchus Memorial Title" belt. Fighting For A Cure 6 is Saturday, July 28th at 4 p.m. This year WWE's Mick Foley and Rocky Johnson will be making appearances.